Literature / The Vast Fields of Ordinary

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A 2009 Gay Teen Coming of Age Novel by Nick Burd, tells the story of Dade's metaphorical Last Summer.

The story begins with a short description of Dade's life since childhood ranging from his mother's transformation from a Hippie to an average housewife who sips martinis and gardens things other than weed, his father's interest in life in a cul-de-sac, and his secret relationship with football player Pablo *The Sexican* Soto. It establishes Dade's life as average, until one day he decides to admit his feelings to Pablo and things start going crazy.

In the correct order it goes relationship drama, gay drama, divorce drama, drama drama, and finally the Climax which ties up the novel in a satisfying way, but solves most of the drama in a very anticlimactic way.

Tropes:

The Beard: Judy for Pablo. It's a story about gay people, what did you expect? A Moustache?

Genre Savvy: She also suspects her status and in her few appearances tries to keep Dade away from Pablo

Bittersweet Ending: Bordering on complete downer: Dade learns things aren't always as perfect as you make it out to be no matter how perfect your boyfriend is, his parents divorce (Which is a good thing), he finally gets friends of his own, and Alex decides to break the mold his father and sister set before him and not run away and stays in town to help his grandma, but Pablo kills himself by crashing his car into a tree after all the gay confusion he went through, Dade and Alex mutually break up, and Lisa moves back to L.A.

Coming-Out Story: An odd one since Alex and Dade both don't care who sees who doing affectionate things, and when Dade finally tells his parents he's gay, they're a bit shocked but are still loving and supportive, and actually be more so than before.

What Could Possibly Go Wrong?: While reading this you may sarcastically say/think "Wow treating the guy who is trying to reconcile with you like shit and rubbing your new happy relationship in his face. What could go wrong?" the answer? He kills himself.

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